Friday, February 26, 2010

What to do when God and Jonah are grounded?

Through the fall the children in our congregation have been writing songs, building set pieces, making puppets and scripting a puppet show on the story of Jonah. All was coming together for a Saturday practice and Sunday performance, but then God and Jonah got grounded! Or at least the kids playing those two (rather central) characters did. This happens to us around here a fair bit. In fact, because the kids love Sunday School and Kids Night their parents feel like not allowing them to attend is a punishment that will make a point. So, I guess there is an upside?

Anyway, we moved the performance back a week and a great time was had by all. The following Tuesday we were scheduled to perform in the building where the kids live. Again, God and Jonah...grounded. But this time Xavier, an 8 year old who is new to the building exuberantly volunteered. He was so excited by having seen the show the week before that even though he had not been a part of anything so far, he couldn't wait to be able to tell the story too. So Xavier was Jonah, our narrator played God and we played in the story again. It was not a performance that was going to win any Tony nominations, but the biblical story once again became a place where someone was able to find a place of belonging.